NiSource (NYSE:NI) Price Target Raised to $43.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

NiSource (NYSE:NI) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $39.00 to $43.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

NI has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of NiSource from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of NiSource in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.13.

NiSource Price Performance

NI stock opened at $39.65 on Thursday. NiSource has a one year low of $25.13 and a one year high of $39.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.54.

NiSource (NYSE:NI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 14.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NiSource will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from NiSource’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. NiSource’s payout ratio is 67.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zacks Investment Management increased its position in NiSource by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 171,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,309,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in NiSource by 499.7% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 19,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 15,867 shares during the last quarter. Finward Bancorp bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $1,097,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in NiSource by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in NiSource during the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

NiSource Company Profile

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.